How is the value of the lunar soil brought back by Chang'e 5 compared with the lunar rock samples from the United States?

Any lunar soil retrieved from the moon is extremely precious and cannot be described as wealth, whether it is the lunar samples retrieved by the United States or the Soviet Union decades ago, or the samples brought back by Chang'e 5 this time , all have the same scientific research value.

In the early morning of December 17, the Chang'e-5 returner carrying 2 kilograms of lunar samples landed safely in a predetermined area in Inner Mongolia, marking the successful completion of my country's first extraterrestrial body sampling return mission. This is the second time in the past 44 years that humans have retrieved lunar samples from the moon, which is of great significance.

The Apollo lunar landing program organized and implemented by the United States from 1961 to 1972 achieved manned lunar landings and field inspections of the moon. It was an epoch-making achievement in the world's aerospace history. During this period, six spacecrafts in a row completed the moon landing, successfully sent 12 astronauts to the moon, and brought back a total of about 381.7 kilograms of lunar soil samples and rock samples.

In 1970, the former Soviet Union launched the world's first unmanned lunar sample return probe "Moon 16", which retrieved a 101-gram small sample from the Moon's Fertile Sea. It was subsequently launched in 1972 The "Lunar 20" and the "Lunar 24" launched in 1976 retrieved 55 grams and 170 grams of lunar samples from the moon respectively.

Since 1976, humans have never retrieved lunar samples from the moon, until this time my country’s Chang’e 5 retrieved them again.

After the United States retrieved the lunar samples, some scientists around the world applied to the United States to obtain samples for research. In addition to satisfying the research requirements of domestic academies of sciences and research institutes in the United States, many scientists from other countries did obtain samples. Samples were obtained, and through the study of these samples, many scientific research papers and results were published, including the famous scientific research results that the helium-3 energy element is widely distributed on the moon.

In the last century, on the eve of the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, U.S. Security Advisor Brzezinski visited China and gave 1 gram of lunar samples to our country as a "national gift." After our country obtained this 1 gram sample, half of it was used for scientific research. Scientific researchers published some related papers through the study of this half gram sample, but the sample was too small to achieve greater scientific research results.

The samples brought back from the moon by Chang'e 5 this time will be used for three purposes according to the arrangements of the aerospace department. They are mainly for scientific research. Some samples will also be collected for popular science display to the public. Another part will be shared with scientists from relevant countries and the world in accordance with international cooperation treaties, including scientific research institutions in the United States. Of course, in accordance with international practice, it will also be presented to some friendly countries as national gifts.

There are some differences between the samples our country obtained from the moon this time and the samples obtained by the United States that year. The scope of the samples obtained by American astronauts was limited to a relatively small area, while our country's Chang'e 5 The landing location is fundamentally different, and the range of activities is relatively large. Humans have never obtained samples in this area. In terms of scientific research value, it is as valuable as the 381.7 kilogram sample in the United States.